Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 claimed five lives in Maharashtra while 66 people have been infected with the variant so far. Reports stated that out of the infected persons, many are fully vaccinated.
According to the state health department, seven of these patients were aged under 18. The COVID-19 Delta Plus variant, considered highly infectious, was detected during genome sequencing of swab samples sent from different parts of the state.
A 63-year-old fully vaccinated woman from Mumbai died because of the infection in the last week of July, the first death due to the Delta Plus variant in Mumbai, a civic official said.
Following the woman's death in Mumbai, at least two of her close contacts were also found infected with the Delta Plus variant, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official.
A resident of Mumbai's suburban Ghatkopar area, the woman died on July 27 in the ICU of a hospital. Only on August 11 the state authorities learnt that she had the Delta Plus variant infection after the genome sequencing report came, the official said.
The woman had taken both the doses of the Covishield vaccine, but tested Covid positive on July 21, he said.
According to a health department statement, a 50-year-old woman from Thane was found coronavirus positive on July 22 and her report received on Friday revealed she was infected with the Delta Plus variant.
The woman had mild symptoms and she has since recovered, the statement said.
Among the five deaths linked to the Delta Plus variant, two patients were from Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district and one each from Raigad, Beed and Mumbai, the health department said, according to news agency PTI.
The maximum number of Delta Plus patients – 13 – belong to Jalgaon in north Maharashtra followed by Ratnagiri at 12 and Mumbai at 11, the health department said.
Six patients each were from Thane and Pune districts, three each from Palghar and district, two each from Nanded and Gondia, one each from Chandrapur, Akola, Sindhudurg, Sangli, Nandurbar, Aurangabad, Kolhapur and Beed, according to the health department.
It said, "80 per cent of the samples sent for genome sequencing had tested positive for the Delta plus variant (of coronavirus)."
Of the 66 Delta Plus patients, 33 were in the 19 to 45 age group, 18 in the 46 to 60 age group, eight were aged over 60 age and seven were under 18, it said.
According to the statement, among the total patients 34 are women.
"Among the 66 patients, 10 had taken both doses of vaccines. Eight others had taken the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Two of these 18 people had taken Covaxin and 16 Covishield," the statement said.
Of the total patients, 61 have already recovered and 31 of them showed mild or no symptoms of the infection, it said.